One Lovely Blog Award

A big thank you to Jocelyn at shewhohears/aspiritualwanderersperspective for the nomination.  “Joss” is a woman who has struggled with homelessness and addiction.  She is open and honest when she writes about her struggles and her determination to make a better world for herself.  It is heartbreaking but also inspiring.  If you don’t already follow her, give her a read.

The Rules:

1.  Display the award on a post.

2.  Thank the person who nominated you.

3.  Share 7-15 facts about yourself.

4.  Nominate 9-15 bloggers for the award.

 

Facts About Me:

1.  I was diagnosed with an almost perfect eidetic memory.  (Had I honed it, I might could be working for…I don’t know…somebody who gives a shit?)

2.  My ring finger is longer than my index finger on both hands, which supposedly means that I am charming, pragmatic, incredibly compassionate, an excellent problem solver and I would make a great engineer, soldier or CEO.
It says if you are none of those, it may be time to re-evaluate.  (What the fuck does that mean?  Chop off the tips of my fingers?)

3.  The older I get, the better my eyesight gets.  (Now, if everything else begins to regenerate, you may have to start calling me Benjameena Button.)

4.  I had natural childbirth with all four of my children.  I never screamed once but I was screamed at and admonished for asking for a sip of water.  (If I could do it all over, I would say “bring me some drugs and while you’re at it….tell that piece of shit asshole to get the fuck out of here.”)

5.  People have looked at me and said “you don’t have a mean bone in your body, do you?”  (True…but if you betray me or fuck with one of my children, I will tell you to be afraid.  Be VERY afraid.)

6.  I have been told that I would be an excellent investigative reporter or an undercover police officer.  (I can go from my sweet Southern Belle “I have always relied upon the kindness of strangers” to a badass who will say “I will drop you where you fucking stand.”)

7.  I had Scarlet Fever when I was a child, which went untreated and consequently damaged my heart.  I now suffer from SVT.  (Hey.  After having being damaged and broken so many times, if my poor little heart can still beat 220 times a minute, I know I’m not dead.)

8.  I love to walk through The Home Depot and Lowes’.  I also love it when some little snot-nosed guy asks where my husband is, if I have a question.  (“See this chainsaw, Jack?  I know how to crank it and I know how to use it.  If you ask me that again, I am going to cut off all the protruding parts of your body and that includes that itty bitty thing in your pants.”)

9.  I love potted meat, although I don’t eat it anymore.  It was one of the few “meats” that my grandparents could afford.  (For those of you who don’t know what it is, I think it’s made from frog hairs, fish eyes, chicken beaks and discarded penis foreskin.  Yum.)

10.  When I was born, the doctor told my mama and daddy that they had a ten pound baby boy.  (Since I’m a girl, could it be possible that when the circumcision was being performed, the scalpel slipped?  Hey. Maybe my little dingy ended up in a can of potted meat.)

My Nominees:

I nominate anybody who would like to participate.

Blogger Recognition Award

A big thank you to Stephanie at makingtimeforme for the nomination.  Stephanie is a wonderful blogger who is supportive and encouraging.  She’s quick to promote anothers’ work and delves into the lives of those we may tend to discount…like teenagers.  She posts about her own life, divorce, remarriage and her struggles with being a step-mom. She is gracious with those of us who don’t understand how to do something.  She is always more than willing to help. If  you don’t already follow her, give her a read.  You’ll be glad you did.

The Rules:

1.  Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2.  Write a post and display the award.

3.  Give a brief story on how your blog started.

4.  Give a piece of advice to new bloggers.

5.  Select up to 15 other bloggers you want to give the award to.

6.  Comment on each blog and let them know you nominated them.

How My Blog Started:

I am not sure exactly how my blog started.  The only thing I knew about blogs and WordPress came from my dear friend, who died from a brain tumor and blogged about his fight to survive….and a brave fight it was.  I revisit his blog from time to time, although it is painful.  I still remember this wonderful, intelligent, strong, strapping man who was a true friend.  He would have been the one I turned to for advice on “how to blog”, had he lived.

I think my youngest daughter, probably in an attempt to help ease my grief, suggested that “we” write a blog.  So…I decided to write about the journey of my life….the struggles, the disappointments, the losses and what seems to be a losing battle of recovery.

Advice To New Bloggers:

The one thing I wish I had been more knowledgeable about was how to “tag.”  If you are a new blogger and are as computer illiterate as I was (am), it helps.  As far as content, there are so many bloggers out there with entirely different kinds of posts and they are all wonderful reads.  I would say to write what you want to write.

Follow other bloggers and be supportive.  Comment on their work.  Let them know you read their posts and appreciate them.  You will make some wonderful friends here.  They will become your family…your “band of bloggies.”

Don’t get discouraged if you only have a few followers in the beginning.  Keep writing, if only for yourself.  It can be cathartic.  It can be healing.  It can be the reason you get off of your sofa.

My Nominees:

1.  Tosha Michelle

2.  myworldshattered

3.  A@moylomenterprises

4.  euphoriciraqisinglemom

5.  chloe88blog

6.  Blue Sky

7.  creativerational

8.  shavingshards

9.  RobertGoldstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainer Blogger Award

A big thank you to Stephanie at makingtimeforme for the nomination.  She is (to use the words of another blogger describing her) a prolific blogger.  She writes about all sorts of things, is tremendously supportive and unselfishly promotes other bloggers’ work.  Her “spotlights” and “weekly updates” are well worth viewing.

The Rules:

• Write a post with the award picture shown above.

•  Nominate up to 12 other bloggers who are funny, inspiring, and most of all ENTERTAINING!

•  Thank the person who nominated you by tagging their blog.

•  Answer the five questions listed below.

The five questions are:

1.  Why did you start a blog in the first place?
I think I remember my youngest daughter saying “let’s do a blog.”  I had no idea what I was doing but I thought I’d give it a shot.

2.  What is your favorite book?
I always struggle with this question because I don’t read books.  The only book I ever read was Ambulance Girl so I guess it would be my favorite.

3.  What do you dislike the most?
I dislike injustice, prejudice, infidelity, dishonor, immorality, liars and narrow-mindedness.

4.  What is your favorite food item from the mall?
I haven’t been to a mall in more than twenty years but when I used to go, I would always get a Barnies’ coffee (long before Starbucks) and a Cinnabon with an extra cup of icing.

5.  What is your favorite pastime activity?
Probably blogging.

My nominees:

1.  Robert Goldstein
2.  Spearfruit
3.  theword36
4.  shavingshards
5.  creativerational
6.  samlobos
7.  A@moylomenterprises
8.  Tikeetha T

Another Leibster Award

A big thank you to innerramblingsblvd for the nomination!  They are a couple of ghost writers whose work ranges from musical to erotica.  They post lots of videos and the writing is always so meaningful.  They are staunch supporters of their followers and never fail to comment with heartfelt and encouraging responses.  If you don’t already follow them, give them a look.

These are their questions for me:

1.  What was the scariest moment in your life?
I would have to say when I had to meet with a drug dealer in the middle of the woods because the Loser puppet told me to get his computer back and he didn’t care how I did it.  (My son sold it.)

2.  What or who inspires your writing?
My life.

3.  How have you overcome writers’ block?
I just don’t write for a while.

4.  Are you published?  Would you like to be published?
No.  Maybe.

5.  What do you think is your best poem or poetry?
Maybe “A Short Story” but I don’t consider anything I write as being very good.

6.  What is your favorite novel?
I don’t have one.

7.  If you could meet an author, who would you meet?
I’ve met Robert Penn Warren but only because he was one of the Loser puppets’ favorite authors.  Not being a reader, I don’t have an answer.

8.  If you were trapped on an island, what three items would you have?
Water, a compass and a raft.

9.  What is one thing in the world you’d like to change?
Injustice.

10. How long have you been writing?
I’ve been blogging almost a year.

The Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog.

Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you.

Display the award on your blog post.

Provide 10 random facts about yourself.

Nominate 5-11 bloggers that you feel deserve the award and notify them that they have been nominated.

Ask them to answer ten questions.

Ten Random Facts About Me:

1.  I always wear a gold St. Jude (the patron saint of lost causes) pendant around my neck.

2.  I have no discernible wrinkles on my forehead…a trait I got from my mama.  At eighty, she didn’t
have a single wrinkle on her forehead.

3.  I can raise both of my eyebrows (ala Scarlett O’Hara) alternately.  I used to entertain my
children and they would try and try to do it but none of them have ever been able to.  I have never
met anybody else who could do it either.

4.  When I give up something, I give it up.  I used to drink 3 or 4 pots of coffee every day.  About ten years ago, I decided to stop.  I used to drink 8 or 9 gallons of milk a week.  Three years ago, I decided I was going to stop.  I have never even had a sip since.  I never miss what I give up.  I never have any kind of withdrawal.  It’s another quality that people “admire” and also think makes me “crazy.”  (“Nobody says I’m quitting something and just does it.  That’s crazy.”)

5.  I can tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue.

6.  I know a pressure point that can disable or kill you using only my thumb.  (Learned in EMS and no, I will not tell you.)

7.  I despise cooking, although I used to be a pretty good one.  I find the idea right on up there with sticking forks in my eyes.

8.  If I had a choice of a sunny day or a rainy day, I would pick the latter.  I have always loved rainy days.

9.  I have a younger sister who I have only seen five times in the last 61 years.

10. I once worked for the telephone company as an information operator.  Back then, we literally used a phone book to look up numbers.

My questions are the same questions that were asked of me.

Since so many bloggers are award free, I tend to nominate the few who still accept awards.  Also, the Leibster Award is for bloggers with less than 200 followers.  I have surpassed that number (many thanks to my followers) and some of my nominees have, I’m sure but not all have the number posted.

My nominees are:

1.  survivednarc

2.  angelicakidd

3.  creativerational

4.  socialworkerangela

6.  learningtolivelikewater

7.  myworldshattered

8.  painkills2

9.  samlobos

10.  simplyEttad